


Witching Hours

by EvilMuffins



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Halloween, M/M, Self-Doubt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:14:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24987400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilMuffins/pseuds/EvilMuffins
Summary: Briefly, the flash illuminated Akira’s face, eyes sparkling beneath the mask, and for just a moment, Yusuke saw Akira Kurusu there. Not Joker, their smirking leader, but the boy who smelled of coffee and loved stray cats.The one who had cast his spell on Yusuke’s heart.Did Akira truly even need him along on these missions at all?
Relationships: Kitagawa Yusuke/Kurusu Akira, Kitagawa Yusuke/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 2
Kudos: 70





	Witching Hours

**Author's Note:**

> My piece for the Shukita flower language zine! This fic was based off the flower witch hazel!

Yusuke watched curiously from his seat at the counter as Futaba continued to size up Akira. Her look of concentration was an expression that Yusuke knew well enough, as he imagined that he likely made it himself from time to time as he attempted to commit each and every fine feature of Akira’s face to memory. Although at the moment, the resulting fruits of his observation had yet to make it onto paper. 

“I’m thinking…” Futaba gestured vaguely toward the whole of Akira’s form as he diligently inspected a suspect unit of tupperware that had been lurking in the far reaches of the cafe’s fridge. “A sexy cop. Yeah.”

Akira’s mouth drew into a frown, although in response to the aroma emanating from the now open container, or Futaba’s suggestion, Yusuke wasn’t entirely certain. “Like… With my top unbuttoned and booty shorts?”

He certainly didn’t reject the idea, Yusuke noted, although Akira did toss away offending mystery meat. 

Futaba shook her head in mock exasperation. “I mean with a miniskirt and, you know…” She paused for a contemplative bite of curry before continuing, “Thigh boots. Tell him I’m right, Inari. If he keeps you coming back every evening in that boring apron, just think how many customers he’d pull in wearing a spicy costume.”

Yusuke blinked, setting his cup down with a clink. “It certainly would make for a striking image,” he agreed, mind making quick work in supplying him with quite the compelling vision. “Might I ask one question, though?”

“Shoot,” Akira replied, shutting the fridge. 

“Why a costume? Why not craft a new dish or beverage, if the aim is to bring in more customers?”

Futaba sighed as if Yusuke had just declared that he had never heard of Minecraft (although he did wonder what might be enjoyable about a coal mining simulation the last time that Futaba had brought it up). “Because it’s October, Inari. Almost Halloween!”

“Oh.” Yusuke said quietly, shifting in his seat. “Forgive me for forgetting. Sen- ...Madarame forbade his students from wearing anything too frivolous, declaring that it would distract from our art…”

A silence fell over the room, Futaba pushing her rice into a mountain in the center of her plate while Akira adjusted his glasses, eyes having grown behind them thoughtful. 

“What would  _ you  _ like to see me dress up as?” He asked Yusuke with the same unwavering intensity he held whenever he approached Yusuke in the hopes of spending time together. 

Being asked to share his own opinion--much less having it so valued--was still a novel concept to Yusuke, and although a simple Halloween costume was likely inconsequential given the current state of their situation as Phantom Thieves, he still spared it more than a moment for thought. 

Despite the fact that he knew little about Halloween, one common theme did linger at the back of his mind. “How about a witch, perhaps?”

* * *

Setting aside the initial wave anticipation toward his first time being allowed to properly celebrate Halloween, Yusuke still managed to find his usual excitement in traversing Mementos the following evening as well. 

Although attempting to draw while crammed inside of the Monabus had proved a source of frustration at the beginning of their journeys months earlier, recently Yusuke had made peace with the wavy lines provided by the myriad bumps and lurches. Allowing them to remain in his finished pieces offered an air of the organic, he decided. “ _ It’s eccentric, just like the artist,”  _ Akira had said back in the cafe one day. “ _ I like it.”  _

Before putting pencil to paper, Yusuke stole a glimpse toward the back of Akira’s head, where he sat at the front of the bus. Even without a view of his leader’s face, Yusuke was able to feel the focus emanating from Akira as he drove along the rails. 

As Yusuke began to sketch, his mind drifted back to the conversation from the previous day. He still wasn’t quite certain why he had opted for Akira to don such a mundane costume, rather than encouraging him to stick with Futaba’s more daring suggestion. 

Akira was attractive. Of that, there was no modicum of doubt in Yusuke’s mind. After a lifetime of fooling himself, Yusuke had made the decision to be a fool no longer, thanks in no small part to Akira’s kindness. After a string of sleepless nights alone with nothing but his art, Yusuke was certain in his feelings. Of course, he did often find the human subjects that he painted aesthetically pleasing, but that was where his interest in them stopped. The emotions that guided his fingertips in those moments were impossible to compare alongside the joy that flooded him whenever he was fortunate enough to be allowed at Akira’s side. 

A sudden bump along the tracks thrust Yusuke’s pencil from the page, and with it, his attention. 

“Shadows, guys. Heads up!” Futaba announced needlessly while Yusuke stashed his sketchbook underneath Morgana’s seat. Thankfully, Morgana wasn’t a part of that night’s battle line up; Yusuke cringed at the thought of just where the possessions they left in the bus might go (or perhaps  _ stay _ ) whenever he were to transform back into his cat form. 

Following Ryuji, Yusuke sprinted from the bus, slipping his katana free of its sheath in order to stand at the ready beside Haru and Akira. 

The pair of Bicorn snorting and pawing the strange fleshy ground before them were hardly anything that the group hadn’t faced before. 

Yusuke stole a glance to his right as Thor materialized above Akira as if conjured by magic. 

It was at times like these--when the victories were won far too easily--that Yusuke found himself combating his own doubts rather than the trifling enemies at hand. He returned his blade to its sheath, watching rapt as Akira commanded his persona to cast Maziodyne. The lightning burst forth in a grand display of lights, fireworks to celebrate a swift victory. Briefly, the flash illuminated Akira’s face, eyes sparkling beneath the mask, and for just a moment, Yusuke saw Akira Kurusu there. Not  _ Joker,  _ their smirking leader, but the boy who smelled of coffee and loved stray cats. 

The one who had cast his spell on Yusuke’s heart. 

Did Akira truly even need him along on these missions at all? 

* * *

“Everything okay?” Akira asked, and despite his casual smile, Yusuke knew that true concern lay just beneath. 

It wasn’t unusual for Yusuke to be the final one left lingering in the attic following a mission. Ironic, considering how far away he now lived, compared to some of the others. There were times in which Kosei seemed a world away, as far removed from Shujin or LeBlanc as the Metaverse itself was. 

Yusuke crossed his arms, mouth setting into a frown. “I wish to discuss battle tactics with you, if that’s alright. I realise that it’s late, and-”

“Yusuke, relax,” Akira chuckled. “Morgana will make sure that I get to bed on time, believe me.” He rolled his eyes, flopping down onto the couch and motioning for Yusuke to join him. “Now tell me what’s up.”

Yusuke complied, perching on the edge of the opposite end of the couch from Akira, fingers thumbing at the ring of keys hanging at his side. “I believe… I think it might be for the better if I weren’t added to the battle rotation during our next outing.” 

Somehow, the cushion beneath him didn’t feel nearly as comfortable as it had the time he had spent the night what felt like so long ago. 

“Not feeling well?” Akira asked, shifting closer in order to get a better look at Yusuke’s face in the dim lighting of the single overhead bulb. 

“Not all, I’m-” Yusuke’s words died on his lips as the warmth of Akira’s palm came to rest against his forehead, brushing back Yusuke’s bangs in order to feel for a fever. 

“You’re warm.” Akira announced.

Indeed, Yusuke’s cheeks were certainly beginning to heat up.

“Best to keep him home then,” Morgana chimed in sleepily from his place curled up on Akira’s pillow. “I don’t need germs all over my seats…” 

“Stay here tonight,” Akira offered decidedly. “I’ll get you to Takemi in the morning.”

Yusuke shook his head, guiding Akira’s hand away from his face. “Akira, I assure you that I’m not unwell. Please listen to me for a moment.”

Akira gave a nod, and Yusuke became aware of the fact that his hand was still grasping Akira’s own. “Alright. What’s up?”

Taking in a deep breath, Yusuke blurted his admission, “I fear that I am becoming a burden on the battlefield. You’re so superbly capable all on your own, that my presence at your side has become nothing short of superfluous.” 

“Yusuke…” Akira rearranged their hands so that his was now on top, giving Yusuke a comforting squeeze. “I want to know that even if you lost your Persona tomorrow, even if you suddenly forgot how to handle a sword, I’d still need you right there beside me.”

A mirthless laugh escaped Yusuke. “You must forgive me, but I find that difficult to believe.”

Akira’s hand slipped free in order to rest over his heart in mock offence. “I was trying to be romantic! Cut me some slack?” 

“Truly?” Despite Akira’s facetious tone, one word in particular had struck Yusuke in no small way. “Were you truly meaning to be romantic?”

Immediately, he chided himself. How could he dare to assume such a thing? Akira would make such a joke toward any of their friends...wouldn’t he?

“I mean…” Akira adjusted his glasses sheepishly. “Yeah?”

“I see… That is good to hear.” Yusuke paused for a moment, before speaking aloud the same thought he had had while in Mementos earlier that day. “The reason being, that you have bewitched my heart as well, Akira Kurusu.”

Akira snorted softly, mouth quirking into the devilish smirk Yusuke knew so well, quickly recovering from his awkwardness of moments before. “Is that why you wanted me to wear the witch costume for Halloween? Because I’m the wicked sorcerer who cursed your heart?”

“Perhaps?” Was the sole word Yusuke could manage as Akira leaned in close. 

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
